MAKE DESIGN MATTER - January Talk - Allies and Morrison

The Microloan Foundation is a microfinance charity, which operates through community based groups of women across Malawi and also, recently, in Zambia. The business loans made to women are small, on average £67 per individual, and typically last four months. The aim is to enable the women to be independent of aid by helping them to create sustainable and commercially successful businesses. The Microloan Foundation also works with the women in furthering their enterprises, by offering business support and vocational training. This gave rise to the need for a new building to accommodate a training centre adjacent to their existing offices in Kasungu, a regional town north-west of the capital, Lilongwe.

Allies and Morrison were approached to produce design proposals, on a pro-bono basis, for the new training centre in Malawi. After three years of collaboration with the Microloan Foundation to design and oversee the construction, the training centre has been completed. The design for the training centre, comprising four training rooms and support spaces, evolved in response to visits to Malawi in order to understand the climate, local building materials and the charity’s needs. The new building will allow the Microloan Foundation to offer vocational training to women in areas such as business, textiles and IT as well as becoming a resource for the whole community.

Make Design Matter is a series of monthly inspirational talks for humanitarians.

Article 25, in partnership with the BRE Trust are bringing together outstanding design professionals who work to support the most vulnerable in society across the developing world. These inspiring monthly panel discussions consider the pursuit of progressive, sustainable architecture which focus on the communities they serve.

Meet the architects and designers at the forefront of creative and positive change in building design for international development.

Article 25 is a charity that relies on the support of built environment professionals and others to help fund our work. While this lecture is free, if you would like to make a donation in support of our work, this will help us to cover the costs of organising these talks.